Major Lazer’s new single, a collaboration with Dutch hip-hop producers The Flexican and FS Green, contains an infectious horn-sample that’ll immediately come across as extremely familiar to any hip-hop fan residing in their home country, since the track is basically a remix of the beat to ‘Bumaye’ by Typhoon and The Flexican. The track has been a staple of his live sets for many years, and despite never appearing on any of Typhoon’s albums it has been one of his most popular tracks ever since it came out in 2005. It was included on Made in Da Shade: Kings, the soundtrack to a theater show scored by producer The Flexican, a Mexican-born Dutch hip-hop producer. ‘Bumaye’ grew to be it’s most popular track and Typhoon, one of The Netherlands’ most eloquent emcees, has only gained more prominence. Peep the original:
The title refers to the chant “Ali Bumaye” (roughly translating to “Ali, finish him”) which the people Zaïre chanted during Muhammad Ali’s training sessions for the historic “Rumble In The Jungle” against George Foreman. Which was famously depicted in the documentary When We Were Kings, tying it back to the theme of the soundtrack.
Of course, neither the version blessed with vocals by Busy Signal included on the upcoming Major Lazer album or the one Typhoon spit to would’ve been possible without the 1978 track ‘Maria Lionza,’ by Willie Colon & Ruben Blades. Not just the intro was used, but peep that track 20 seconds in and there you have it, slower but unmistakably, it’s those infectious horns. Those notes sure gained a lot of mileage since 1978, and it seems their victory lap isn’t anywhere near stopping yet. Bumaye!
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